


Monster in the Mirror

by Entwinedlove



Series: The Great October Challenge 2017 [66]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Afterlife, Gen, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-03 08:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16322645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Entwinedlove/pseuds/Entwinedlove
Summary: Vincent wasn't ready to die.





	Monster in the Mirror

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Ordinary Writing Levels's 31 Days of Halloween  
> day 23 prompt: ghost story
> 
> [ ](https://i.imgur.com/jdfSwRA.jpg)

Vincent Crabbe sat up and looked around. Everything was ashes. What had, wait, where was the Fiendfyre? Who had controlled it? He hadn't been able to. Why the hell did bloody Carrow teach them the spell if they couldn't control it? Vince reached up and scratched his shoulder. Where was everybody? He remembered being afraid and a lot of heat. He must have found somewhere to hide, though, because here he was alive and w... 

He blinked at the odd lump of ash and coal beside him. What was that?

He reached out and tried to touch the thing and his hand brushed through it. At first, he figured it was just because the ash was so lightweight he didn't feel it but if that was the case shouldn't the shape have crumbled?

He backed up from it, crab-crawling back in anxious fear. What was that? Farther away, his mind picked up details he hadn't noticed when directly beside it. The lump sort of looked like a human body. That was creepy. How did he wake up next to a burnt husk of a body made of ash and not be burned?

He reached up and touched his face and then his arms. The feel of his skin under his fingertips was strange and when he looked down he realised how wrong they looked. The skin was raised and bumpy and dry-looking, like rough hide leather. He yelped as he did so and pulled on his robes to see more. His robes looked wrong. There were threadbare spots and holes and where they had rested on his skin they tugged funny but nothing hurt.

What the hell had happened to him? He took a deep breath and looked around again, maybe if he could... if he... was he floating? Oh no.  _Oh no._ Whatever breath he had taken to calm himself left in a rush. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't. No. He didn't want to believe it but when he looked around, looked  _down_ , at the large room and everything was ashes he didn't think it could be anything else. His gaze returned to the lump of ashes. The body.  _His body_ .

There was a ghostly wail in the silence and Vincent winced. Had that noise come from him? Without giving it much thought beyond the desperate need for a mirror he felt his body zoom towards the seventh-floor boys' lavatory. What he saw in the glass was wrong, was horrible. How, how could this have happened?

He was translucent, of course, but... he'd never be able to join in with the other ghosts, never be friendly with the students of the school. It was horrible. He would terrify everyone who saw him. As he stared in horror at his own reflection he heard a soft rustling and whistling. He hid in the toilet stall.

"Who's there?" a voice said. There was a moment of quiet, except for that rustling got louder. "It's all right, you know. I'm the Fat Friar, you know, the ghost of Hufflepuff House? There's been a lot of deaths in the school. I have no doubt that you're one of them. Do you want to come out and introduce yourself?"

"No," Vince said. The sound of the word was backed up with another emotional wail. "Stay away."

The rustling moved closer and then the translucent face of the Fat Friar slipped through the stall wall.

"Hello, child," the ghost said as he looked at him. The Friar did not cringe or look away, did not look at him with pity. Vincent felt another wave of emotion move through and he wailed again. "You're Vincent Crabbe, aren't you? I talked with the Baron about his charges and he mentioned you. Why don't you come with me and I'll introduce you around, hmm?"

"I can't," he said, shaking his head. He could still picture the monster in the mirror.

"Well, you can't hide in the toilet forever," and then he lowered his voice and raised his hand, whispering, "You don't want to be like Myrtle, do you?"

Vince felt a little smirk tug at his lips. "I'll scare everyone."

"You don't scare me, son. Now come on, meeting everyone will help." Vincent nodded and followed reluctantly. He hoped meeting the rest would help though he didn't know if it would. He still was having a hard time with the thought that he was now a ghost.


End file.
